Blue Jackets going for 6th win in a row, Luongo starting, Ebbett our #2 centre and AV to be fired after loss. Add to that I just bet $20 on the Jackets and you have a guaranteed win night for the Canucks.

But if we told you before the puck dropped this season that a midseason matchup between the Vancouver Canucks and Columbus Blue Jackets would feature a club in disarray, having won only three times in 12 games, against a red-hot squad with five straight wins, well, I think we all know which club you have guessed was which.

That Tuesday night’s encounter in Columbus in fact pits the streaking Jackets hosting the slumping Canucks, well, I guess that just goes to prove a 48-game season is indeed open to almost anything.

So you might as well believe this, too: If the Jackets beat the Canucks in regulation Tuesday night, they’ll be only two points behind them in the jam-jar standings of the Western Conference.

What in the wild, wild world of sports is going on, you say?

Let’s start in Vancouver, where the city’s all-sports radio station The Team 1040 was lit up with distressed Canucks fans over the past 36 hours. A glimpse at Tuesday’s stories in the Vancouver Province and the Vancouver Sun gives you a flavor of where things stand in a city that has Cup expectations again this season but has seen its team slip down to sixth in the Western standings.

Credit to Canucks GM Mike Gillis, who returned my call Monday in all this madness. The disappointment in his voice was clearly detectable three time zones away before he jumped on a plane.

"Our team hasn’t played well for a little bit now, and we need to get it sorted out," Gillis told ESPN.com. "Missing Kesler and Bieksa has been tough, but it gives other guys a chance to step up and do more. We have to keep pushing and get back to a level that’s acceptable."

No question, the injuries to No. 2 center Ryan Kesler and top-four blueliner Kevin Bieksa have hurt the club. The Canucks are just never the same when Kesler isn’t doing his thing; it puts too much pressure on the Sedin twins to deliver on the top line, while Bieksa in many ways is the face of the team.

Having said that, this is the season of the injury in the NHL. Every team is going through it. Do you think the Ottawa Senators are feeling bad for the Canucks?

And so, the issues run deeper:

• The Canucks' power play stinks. Mired in an 0-for-23 slump, it’s fallen to 24th in the NHL. This is a unit that was fourth overall last season and topped the NHL in 2010-11.

"You need more than two power plays a game to get it going," Gillis said. "We’re not generating enough push to create penalties."

• The team is in dire need of help at center. It's been playing all season without a real No. 3 center, and with Kesler once again out, there's no No. 2 center for the moment. It's hard to win in this league without a No. 2 or a No. 3 center.

• Then there’s the goalie drama. Roberto Luongo awaits his trade, although he’s been a terrific pro about it and hasn’t made waves. But his mere presence, some will argue, has affected Cory Schneider's ability to establish himself as a No. 1 netminder. Luckily, the two goalies get along. The question is, is it a distraction for the two netminders and for the team in general?

"One of the reasons that you are All-Star players is that you can overcome distractions," Gillis said. "These guys have won the Jennings Trophy [awarded to goalies who've allowed the fewest goals against] together. I don’t think it’s a distraction in that dressing room. I think it’s an excuse for play that isn’t as good as what we’ve come to accept."

Easier said than done, but this team needs a trade before April 3. It needs a No. 3 center.

In Vancouver’s defense, there hasn’t been a lot of trade activity so far. With the standings so close, few teams are sellers yet.

"You can try and be as active as you want, but the fact remains you still have to find something that is going to help your team," Gillis said. "It’s going to prove awfully difficult to do."

The answer, for now, has to come within. All eyes in that dressing room will turn to Luongo, who gets the start Tuesday night after Schneider carries the bulk of the starts over this 12-game stretch. Time for Bobby Lu to stop the bleeding.

GMMG wrote:Our team hasn’t played well for a little bit now, and we need to get it sorted out," Gillis told ESPN.com. "Missing Kesler and Bieksa has been tough, but it gives other guys a chance to step up and do more. We have to keep pushing and get back to a level that’s acceptable."

Canucks scored because they gave the puck directly to Garrison so he could shot. How many times did Edler get the puck behind him or beside him. Because he is not a right handed shooter it needs to be sent to his "off" side and then he could 1 timer it. This team badly needs a right handed D man and we sign another left hander.